Very high density wafer scale device architecture

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to the design and manufacture of a wafer-size integrated circuit. Lower layers of the wafer sized integrated circuit comprise electrically isolated repeating blocks such as logic elements or blocks of circuit elements. An upper conductive layer comprises data and address bus structures. A discretionary via layer located between the upper layer and the lower layers can be patterned to accomplish multiple purposes. Patterning of the via layer avoids connecting the bus structure to defective elements or blocks, establishes addresses of elements, and establishes the organization of the addressing structure and data structure (for a memory wafer the word length, number of banks of words, and number of words per bank). The via layer is patterned to connect the upper bus lines to selected regions in the lower metal levels after testing (testing uses conventional techniques) for good and bad elements. As another novel feature, the structure may include two or more address ports, which may simultaneously address different banks of the repeating elements. The plural address port feature is particularly useful for automatic refreshing of dynamic random access memories (DRAMs) and/or for plural addressing with other memory types. The architecture provides for flexibility in the final functional organization of wafer scale devices, which is determined at the time the via level is customized. An overall reduction of overhead control circuitry and the reduced size of the repeated block provides for higher total density per wafer than is achievable with conventional single chip integrated circuits using the same level of manufacturing technology. More than one discretionary via layer and more than one bus layer may be provided.

This application is a division of application Ser. No. 07/502,256, filed Mar. 30, 1990, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,315,130.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to the design, architecture, control, and manufacture of a wafer-size integrated circuit in which a large number of identical groups of elements are repeated.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In the manufacture of semiconductor integrated circuits the yield (the ratio of good chips on a wafer to the total number of chips available on a wafer) is determined, among other things, by the density of defects in the wafer and the ability of the circuit design and manufacturing process to compensate for defects. As the chip size is increased the probability of a defect occurring on the chip increases; hence, the number of defects per unit area limits the physical size of the integrated circuit that can be manufactured without defects.

The problems associated with obtaining defect-free semiconductor chips are magnified many times when a single circuit is to be fabricated on an entire wafer.

To date a wafer sized circuit with zero manufacturing defects has not been achieved. Thus integrated circuit manufacturers are forced to employ special techniques to compensate for defects. In chip sized memories, manufacturers commonly add redundant rows and columns of memory and logic elements which can be substituted for defective elements, with overhead circuitry for use after testing the unit to substitute the redundant memory and logic elements. These redundancy techniques are not acceptable for wafer-size integrated circuits because the added circuitry required to access the redundant memory schemes becomes excessive as the devices become larger.

Another way to overcome defects is through discretionary wiring. Discretionary wiring follows testing of a wafer containing many small, similar semiconductor devices, or clusters of semiconductor devices, which are manufactured using traditional batch processing methods up to but excluding the metal interconnect levels, and identifying the good and bad elements. Only good elements are interconnected by discretionary wiring to complete the structure. Texas Instruments, Inc. demonstrated the concept of discretionary wiring in the early 1960s. The Texas Instruments discretionary wiring method is discussed in a paper entitled "Wafer Scale Integration--Historical Perspective" by N. R. Strader and J. S. Kilby, published Sep. 20 and 21, 1984 in "Preprints for The SRC Workshop on Wafer Scale Integration" by Cooperative Research Semiconductor Research Corporation, P.O. Box 12053, Research Triangle Park, N.C., 27709. Texas Instruments created a map of good and bad elements on a wafer. For each wafer, a set of masks for metal and via interconnect patterns were then created to interconnect all the good elements into a single functional integrated circuit. The costs of testing and creating the unique masks made this approach not cost effective.

Many other companies have worked on wafer-size integrated circuits using a multiplicity of approaches to avoid defects in the resulting circuits. Most of the work has been done in the area of logic circuits, but some of the more recent work has been done in the field of integrated circuit memories.

Two recent well known efforts in wafer-size integrated circuit memories have been made by Inova Microelectronics Corp. and Anamartic, Ltd. In the Inova method described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,703,436, conventional single chip static RAMs are completely manufactured up to and including additional interconnect levels which define a bus that connects all chips together through fuses. All chips are tested and the bad chips are disconnected from the bus by blowing the fuses that connect the bad chips to the bus. The bus structure has redundant lines which are electrically connected by blowing fuses in a circuit-select decoder. The circuit select decoder, fuses, and test pads all represent overhead circuitry which must be provided in addition to the overhead circuitry present on the individual single chip memories, thereby reducing the overall memory density to less than what is available with conventional single chips. The Inova method addresses the chip enable input pins of the individual chips to be connected by applying additional address bits to the circuit select decoder on one chip of the wafer to extend the range of the addressing available on the individual chips and to reorganize the functionality of the wafer level memory in order to map around defects.

The Inova method does not work with chips having no chip select input. Most Dynamic Random Access Memories (DRAMs) have no chip select input. Therefore, the Inova method will not work with most DRAMs since it has no capability to provide for efficient refreshing of DRAMs. Additionally, the Inova method is limited to a single address port, and inserts detrimental fuse resistance in series with the power supply and ground lines. Further, certain failures in elements initially connected through fuses will produce failure of the remainder of the device before the fuses can be blown. The Inova patent does not address the effect of long metal buses on memory performance, nor does it address manufacturing memory products comprised of whole wafers.

Anamartic, a commercial wafer scale memory company in England, builds whole wafer memory circuits by connecting into long serial looping chains good clusters of DRAM memory cells contained on conventional DRAM chips. The wafer is totally manufactured through all levels. The final wafer level memory software is configured by repetitively accessing the serial chain to test for good and bad memory cells one at a time and substituting good cells for bad cells through the control logic (using software) until a continuously good serial shift register loop is created. The addresses of the good memory bits are stored in an EEPROM on a separate chip. When manufactured using DRAM technology, the serial memory organization eliminates conventional methods for refreshing the dynamic memory cells. Therefore, the wafer level memory must be continuously clocked to refresh the memory states. This increases the overall power dissipation of the wafer while making the average access time very slow (though still faster than magnetic disk storage devices). The control logic associated with each memory chip increases the support overhead on the wafer by at least 10% and severely limits the memory density per wafer. The off-wafer EEPROM chip prevents the Anamartic technology from providing a fully self supported wafer-level memory. Additionally, the software for addressing only good memory makes the device slow in operation.

DRAM memories must be refreshed (rewritten) periodically (approximately every 16 milliseconds for a 4 Mbit DRAM) and are notorious for high transient switching currents during addressing and refresh. Usually they contain no chip select input and are addressed by presenting a row and column address rather than a single address field for either an entire row or an entire column. For the construction of a conventional wafer-size DRAM memory, high current requirements and space for chip select and other addressing overhead must be accommodated.

A prior art conventional single chip integrated circuit memory is usually composed of a multiplicity of identical smaller memory blocks each of which contains memory cells, decode circuitry to decode an address to access an individual memory cell, sense amplifiers to sense (read) the state of the memory cell addressed, and line buffer drivers to drive local metal interconnect buses. Each single chip integrated circuit memory also contains other circuitry to perform control and timing functions, other required overhead circuitry to support the multiplicity of memory groups, and bond pads which are used to create a physical electrical connection to a package or other off-chip electrical contact. For combining multiple chips into a single memory, these overhead circuits or structures must support and/or control the group of smaller memory blocks as one common unit. Typically this prior art overhead circuitry may account for 50% of the total wafer area.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is desirable to provide a wafer scale device which can be manufactured with high yield, uses low power, has high density, has a high ratio of functional elements to overhead, can be easily tested, loses a small portion of total capacity as a result of a defect, and is economical to manufacture.

In accordance with this invention, an integrated circuit is provided having repeating blocks of circuitry, repeating segments of control logic, and a bus structrue. The blocks, segments, and bus structure are tested before being interconnected. After being interconnected, the integrated circuit achieves the above objectives. The present invention applies particularly to a wafer-size integrated circuit which uses multiple identical blocks of addressable circuitry.

In accordance with the invention, multiple identical blocks of circuit elements and multiple identical blocks of control logic are provided on a wafer, both the blocks of circuit elements and the blocks of control logic being small enough that those blocks found defective can be discarded without significantly reducing the capacity of the device, and large enough that testing all blocks requires few current-art test probes. The control logic is preferably located in a center channel extending along a diameter of the wafer and the blocks of circuit elements are located on both sides of this center channel. Connecting the control logic to the circuit elements is a bus structure for which the specific connections allow flexibility in selecting which circuit elements are connected, selecting which control logic elements are connected, and selecting the organization used by the control logic for addressing the circuit elements. This bus structure is formed above the layers which make up the circuit elements and control logic, preferably in a single layer.

Discretionary Via

Between the upper bus structure layer and the lower layers making up the circuit elements and control logic elements are one or more via layers (a via layer is an insulation layer in which via openings allow electrical contact between a conductive layer above and a conductive layer below) which are customized for each particular device. Preferably a single via layer is provided. According to the invention, by customizing the via locations in this single via layer, it is possible to accomplish several results: 1) avoid defective blocks of circuitry; 2) avoid defective control logic; 3) avoid defective bus lines; and 4) select the organization of the final structure. The bus structure above the via layer and the element structure below the via layer are organized to allow all three objectives to be accomplished in the single via layer. Performing all customization in a single via layer allows the manufacture of wafer sized integrated circuit devices to become economical in comparison to manufacture of multiple chip-sized devices.

Customization occurs after all active and conductive layers of the integrated circuit necessary to produce fully functional blocks of repeating elements and fully functional control logic segments are manufactured. This typically includes manufacture up to at least a second level of interconnect metal. However, at this point in the manufacturing process, all blocks of circuit elements and center control channel logic blocks up to and including this second metal level are electrically isolated one from another. After manufacture to this point (second metal), each circuit element block and logic block is fully tested, using test probe techniques, and all good and bad blocks are mapped into a computer data base.

According to one method of manufacturing, after testing, the discretionary via layer located between the second metal layer and a third metal layer is patterned to have vias to good blocks only. This via layer provides connections to a bus structure for interconnecting the functional blocks of circuit elements. The via layer connects the control logic (located in the center channel) to all good blocks of functional circuit elements. This insulation layer is the only portion of the entire structure which must be individually tailored in order to avoid electrical connection to defective circuit element blocks or logic blocks, and to connect only all-good blocks into any allowed organization. This patterning may be done using a direct-write E-beam lithography system. Alternatively, patterning can be done by laser exposure, laser drilling, manufacturing a mask dedicated to the individual wafer, or by selectively connecting antifuses. For an 80 Mbyte RAM embodiment to be described, there will be on the order of 500,000 vias to be opened at predefined locations, a number which is not excessive with today's technology and which is less than that required for the equivalent number of circuit elements provided in many individual integrated circuit chips. The locations at which vias are required to be opened are computed from the data acquired through testing, and stored in a computer data file. By leaving predefined via locations unopened, defective blocks can be eliminated from the circuit.

According to the present invention, this step of opening vias located between the bus structure and the circuit element blocks controls not only the connection of good blocks for eliminating defective blocks of circuit elements, but also controls the organization of the final structure, and the number of banks into which the blocks of circuit elements are grouped.

In order to understand the organization discussed here, the functional and physical organization of a memory embodiment of this invention is now briefly described. The large capacity memory (or logic device) is subdivided into several hierarchies of smaller units. First, the memory is divided into banks. Functionally, the banks are divided into words, which are divided into bits. Physically the banks are divided into blocks which are divided into rows and columns of cells. Each cell provides one memory bit. A word is the group of elements (for example memory cells) which is accessed by a single address. Any memory block, regardless of its physical location, can be assigned anywhere within the functional organization of the wafer size memory.

Bus Architecture Flexible With True/Complement Lines

The final metallization (which in the preferred structure is a single third metal layer) includes the bus structure comprising several buses.

The architecture of the bus structure provides for flexibility in the final functional organization of the device, which is determined at the time the via level is customized. The architecture of the bus structure also allows clustered and randomly scattered defects to be accommodated equally easily. The address bus provides sufficient bits to address any set of elements (any word) within the entire device. The device is made up of blocks of identical elements and the bits of a word are stored in multiple blocks, a few bits per block. Some address bits select which element of a block is being addressed, and other address bits select which block is addressed. The address bits which select the element within the block are preferably identically connected to every block in the entire device. The bits which select the blocks are provided on both true and complement lines, different combinations of true and complement lines being connected to an AND gate in each of the different blocks to set a unique address for enabling each block (OR, NOR or NAND gates may alternatively be used to enable the block). This novel arrangement allows the blocks to be given unique addresses at the time the custom via layer is patterned. This arrangement also allows the organization of the blocks (number of banks of blocks) to be established at the time the via layer is patterned. Blocks found defective upon testing will not be connected to the address bus structure when the via layer is patterned.

Multiple Address Buses

A further feature of the invention is the ability to have more than one address bus. In the preferred embodiment discussed below, two address buses are provided. This feature is especially useful for application to memories, and particularly for the automatic refreshing of dynamic random access memories. Counting the data bus, a total of three fixed buses are preferably provided. For a DRAM these are a data bus, a first (read/write) address bus, and a second (refresh) address bus. The data bus and the read/write address bus perform conventional functions, except for the novel feature that the read/write address bus (like the refresh bus) uses lines of two types, bank address and element address, as discussed above. The read/write and refresh address buses both access all blocks in all banks. Since the banks form both functional and physical divisions, it is possible and preferable to address more than one bank at a time. If read/write and refresh addresses provided to the device on the read/write and refresh address buses are to different banks, both addressed elements can be accessed simultaneously, with the result that refreshing of the DRAM has a negligible impact on the rate at which the DRAM can be read from and written to.

Power/Ground Capacitance

As an additional feature of the invention, the structure of blocks of circuit elements includes power and ground lines arranged in a grid of lines which can be interconnected between blocks, and which are physically spaced close together, resulting in high capacitance power and ground supplies having high stability.

Central Control Logic

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, control circuitry is centralized for the entire device, such that compared to a plurality of individual chips with individual control logic, there is an overall reduction of overhead control circuitry. The control logic of this invention treats the wafer-size memory much like a single memory chip. In one embodiment for memories, the centralized circuitry controls approximately 7000 memory blocks. Before testing and the subsequent completion of manufacturing, the control circuitry is not yet tied to particular blocks of circuit elements. In particular, the control circuitry is not tied to defective blocks. Thus no additional control circuitry for isolating defective blocks is needed. A wafer with higher total density of circuit elements per unit area than density of elements in a plurality of individual chips using the same manufacturing technology (size of circuit elements, line width, and misalignment tolerance, for example) is achieved in the present invention with a combination of the following features: providing centralized control logic for controlling the entire wafer, providing small blocks of circuity which do not include redundant elements within them, and providing minimum control circuitry in blocks of repeating elements.

Avoidance of blocks having defective elements is accomplished by not connecting those blocks found to have defective elements to the control circuitry and to the power supply. The result is that the overhead circuitry is reduced to approximately 25% of the total wafer area as compared to about 50% for conventional single chip DRAMS.

Distributed Memory

As a further feature of the present invention, the bus architecture provides for circuit elements having the same address to be located physically far apart on the device. That is, the bits of a single word are located in different blocks, the blocks being spaced throughout the device. Thus, in applications where circuit elements having the same address are addressed repeatedly and often, the physical layout avoids hot spots (locations on the wafer having elevated temperature) and reduces the incidence of switching current transients in a single location. This prolongs the life of the device and minimizes the effect of noise induced by switching currents.

Testing

According to the invention, the device is tested before manufacturing is complete so that the discretionary via layer can be patterned to avoid defects detected during testing. A convenient arrangement of test pads allows a test probe to test every cell in the device using only a small number of test pads. Two embodiments are described. In a first embodiment, test pads are accessed in a conductive layer located beneath the discretionary via layer, and testing is performed before the via layer is applied. In a second embodiment the discretionary via layer is applied, and patterned to form test vias only. The bus layer is then applied and patterned. The patterning provides test pads above the test vias and the bus lines. At this point the bus lines are electrically isolated from the test pads and from the blocks of circuit elements and control logic below. In this second embodiment discretionary connections are made in the via layer (after testing) either by shorting antifuses at potential via locations, or by laser or E-beam melting which results in two metal layers fusing at potential via locations. Opening these vias connects the bus structure to the blocks of circuit elements and control logic below.

If a wafer is found to have a large number of defects, then fewer blocks are available to be connected, and thus the memory will have a smaller total capacity. It is important to note, however, that there is no minimum number of good blocks that can be used. Because a considerable number of excess (redundant) overhead devices (for example: the logic devices for the entire wafer, the contact pads, buffers associated with the contact pads, bus line segments, etc.) are provided, it is unlikely that there will not be a sufficient number of good overhead devices available to control the memory. Thus the memory of the present invention can be manufactured with a very high yield, the size of the memory device being determined during or after manufacture.

The kind of redundancy provided, according to the present invention, allows any distribution of defects and a large number of defects to be accommodated. Because the bus structure is connected after testing, it is simply connected only to good blocks and thus the location of defects is not critical. Additionally, if blocks are found to fail after a final burn-in test then a technique is provided to replace them with spare good blocks which have been previously tested and connected to the bus structure.

The architecture described can be used with any memory type, including static RAM (SRAM), electrically programmable ROM (EPROM and EEPROM), or used with a regular matrix logic structure, for example an array processor. Any wafer processing technology can be used to manufacture the base wafer, CMOS, NMOS, bipolar, or other.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A shows the functional organization of the preferred embodiment.

FIG. 1B is a schematic diagram of a memory block.

FIG. 2 shows the general physical layout of a wafer of the preferred embodiment.

FIG. 3 shows the manner in which signals are brought to and sent from the wafer.

FIG. 4A shows the functional organization of a memory block and its test pads.

FIG. 4B shows how the memory blocks are organized in pairs and how the test pads interdigitate for test advantages.

FIG. 5A shows the metal 1 pattern of the power and ground supply lines.

FIG. 5B shows the metal 2 pattern of the power and ground supply lines.

FIG. 5C shows the metal 3 power and ground lines, connector pads and data I/O and address buses.

FIG. 5D shows the composite power and ground bus structure showing the respective positioning in metal 1, 2 and 3.

FIG. 6A shows a representation of the metal 3 buses extending above the blocks and center channel.

FIG. 6B shows the orientation of a memory block-pair and how the data bus contacts are arranged so that data bus lines can be shared between blocks of the pair.

FIG. 7 shows a schematic of the address and data buses that feed a block-pair row from the center channel.

FIG. 8A shows a physical layout of a portion of a center channel segment.

FIG. 8B shows the metal 2 and metal 3 bus structure for the portion of a center channel segment shown in FIG. 8A.

FIGS. 9A and 9B show the manner by which the signal lines of the blocks can be selectively connected to the signal buses.

FIG. 10A shows a detailed image of three single lines in a metal 3 horizontal bus structure having redundant connection sites.

FIG. 10B shows the repair possibilities available with the redundant line structure of FIG. 10A.

FIG. 11 shows a memory organization which includes spare blocks for substitution after burn-in.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Described as a preferred embodiment and shown in the figures is a 720 megabit (80 megabyte with 9-bit bytes) DRAM. The structure of the preferred embodiment has an operational speed nearly identical to that of a single 4 megabit DRAM, and power dissipation and current transients less than the total of 9 single 4 megabit DRAMS. This wafer-size memory represents a significant increase in memory density (memory cells per unit area) and power saving over single-chip memories made using the same (in this case, 4 megabit) base technology. The preferred embodiment described contains 80 megabytes (720M bits; actually, 754,974,720 bits) and is made up of small memory blocks. (Note: Herein, the following definitions will be used: Kilo=K=2¹⁰ =1024; Mega=M=2²⁰ =1,048,576). Each block contains 64K×2 (actually, 65,536×2) bits of DRAM memory plus row and column address decoders, write enable circuitry, sense amplifiers, input/output buffers and additional logic to decode its own unique address from a bank-select address. The memory blocks are functionally grouped together into 40 "banks" of 144 blocks, each bank containing 18,432K bits (144×64K×2) of the total 737,280K bits in the memory. Thus there are a total of 5760 blocks. The bits are addressed in "words", each word being 288 bits in length. Thus there are 2.5 megawords in the memory. The functional grouping can be changed by changing the number of banks and the number of blocks in a bank.

Functional Organization/Operation

FIG. 1A shows the functional organization of a preferred embodiment of the invention. Recall that the memory is divided into banks. Each bank is functionally divided into words having bits. Each bank is physically divided into blocks of elements. Each element holds a bit. As shown in FIG. 1A, wafer size DRAM 150 consists of 40 banks 1 through 40 of 64K (65,536) words, such as word 2-16,000, each word comprising 288 bits of memory, thus the total memory size is 2.5M words 288 bits long (32 9-bit bytes long), or 80M bytes. Each bank is also divided into blocks. Blocks 2-95 and 3-94 through 3-96 are shown in FIG. 1A. Blocks may be most simply organized such that one bit of a word is in a block. In this case, 288 blocks would make up a bank and each block would include 64K bits. However, the addressing overhead is reduced when a block provides more than one bit of a word and thus accesses more than one bit line.

In the presently described embodiment one block accesses two bit lines and provides two bits of a word. Therefore, each bank is divided into 144 blocks, and there are a total of 5760 blocks (144×40). In this embodiment, each block includes 128K bits of memory plus address decode circuitry, two data I/O ports with buffers and a write enable port, as will be discussed in connection with FIG. 1B.

Addressing Structure

The 80 megabyte wafer-size memory 150 is addressed for reading and writing by using a single 22 bit address on port 43. A single 22 bit address provides a unique address for each of the 2.5 megawords (2.5×2²⁰ words). The 7 least significant bits of the address field provide the block column addresses which are simultaneously available to all 5760 blocks in the memory structure. The 9 next more significant bits of the address field provides the row address for each block and are also simultaneously available to all 5760 blocks in the memory structure. The 6 most significant bits of the address field represents the bank address. These last 6 bits select one of 40 banks to be addressed by enabling the row and column address of each block in the appropriate bank. This 6 bit address is differently applied to the decode circuitry of blocks making up each different bank so that every one of the 144 blocks in one bank responds to the same address. Actually, these 6 most significant bits can be used to define up to 64 (2⁶) memory banks instead of 40. Indeed, an identical memory can be configured at the time the discretionary via layer is patterned to comprise up to 64 memory banks.

Referring to FIG. 1A, the read/write and refresh address buses of the wafer scale memory are organized as five address buses 45-49 routed to each of the blocks in all 40 memory banks, a total of 5,760 memory blocks. Seven-line read/write column bus 45 takes the 7 least significant bits of the 22 bit read/write active address field applied at 43, and provides the 7 column address inputs 809 (FIG. 1B) for the 5,760 memory blocks. Nine-line read/write row bus 46 takes the 8th through the 16th next most significant bits of the 22 bit active address field applied at 43 and provides the active row address inputs 823 (FIG. 1B) of the memory block for all 5,760 memory blocks. Read/write bank address bus 47 consists of 12 lines and provides the true and complement of the six most significant address bits of the 22 bit read/write address field applied at 43. True or complement of the six most significant bits, taken from these 12 lines of bus 47 are applied to the 144 memory blocks of each memory bank, a different combination of true or complement for blocks in each memory bank, to set the memory bank address for reading and writing, as will be described in connection with FIG. 1B for inputs 825. In accordance with accepted industry usage, the terms "true" and "complement" refer to a binary value and its opposite, respectively.

Refresh row bus 48 contains 9 lines for providing the row addresses to be generated during refresh. This 9-bit row address is generated on the wafer by a refresh counter. These 9 lines 822 (FIG. 1B) are connected to all 5,760 memory blocks in common. Refresh bank address bus 49 consists of 12 lines containing the true and complement signals of the 6 most significant bits of a refresh counter and corresponding to the bank refresh address. As with bus 47, 6 of these 12 lines on bus 49 are connected to the 144 memory blocks of each memory bank in the same unique combination to decode the memory bank address for refresh, as described in FIG. 1B for inputs 824.

The six true bits of bus 47 are compared to the six true bits of bus 49 by comparator 55, which generates a refresh interrupt signal 44 when it detects an identical address on both buses 47 and 49. This interrupt signal 44 indicates that the same bank has been addressed for both read/write and refresh. In this event, the refresh address has control, and an interrupt signal is sent to the source providing read/write address 43, causing the read/write operation to be delayed until refresh of the addressed bank is complete.

Write enable input port 42 is connected in common to all 5,760 memory blocks. This port selects between read and write operations in the memory depending upon the state (high or low) of the input. The state for reading or writing is dependent upon the detail design of the memory block and is determined by an arbitrary definition at the time of design. Write enable port 42 also controls the direction of data flow through bidirectional I/O buffers 804, 805, 810 and 811 (see FIG. 1B.) in series with the data I/O lines of data bus 41. During a write operation to the memory, the data from data I/O bus 41 is directed to the memory blocks. During a read operation, the data content of the memory block is directed to data I/O bus 41 and to the outputs of the wafer.

Data I/O Bus--Functional Arrangement

The data I/O bus 41 contains 288 data I/O lines. Each block accesses 2 of these 288 data I/O lines 41. For example, block 2-95 of bank 2 accesses data I/O lines 41-190 and 41-191. Block 3-95 in bank 3 also accesses these same two lines but is part of a different bank and is therefore not addressed at the same time as block 2-95. The functional assignment of a memory block within the full wafer size memory 150 is determined by its unique bank address and the data I/O bit position of lines to which it is physically connected.

Operation

During normal operation of wafer scale memory 150, to maintain address stability during the read and/or write cycle, a full 22 bit read/write address is presented and clocked into the address input register 51 in response to clock input 53. The 22 bit address is presented to all 40 banks of memory simultaneously. In response to the six most significant bits of the address, all of the 144 blocks grouped in one of the 40 banks are selected. Bits forming one word in the selected bank are accessed by enabling the row and column addresses indicated by the other 16 bits of the address. This causes two memory bits in each of the 144 blocks to be read or written to from data I/O bus 41 depending upon the state of the write enable pin 42. All remaining 5,516 blocks of the memory have their row and column addresses disabled and remain in the standby mode (reduced power), unless selected for refresh.

Automatic Refresh

DRAM 150 is refreshed by addressing rows only. The application of only a row address, in the absence of the column address, causes all bits in the addressed row to be refreshed simultaneously. This method of refresh is preferred for saving time. In the present embodiment, a 64K half-block of memory is grouped into 128 columns of 512 rows. Therefore only 512 unique addresses need to be generated (instead of 64K) to complete a refresh. Each memory cell of a DRAM needs to be refreshed every 16.4 milliseconds. In a conventional DRAM using conventional "steal-a-cycle" refresh cycles, if 200 nanoseconds are required for one refresh cycle (200 nanoseconds per row address) then even when an entire row is refreshed at one time, 4.096 milliseconds (40×512×200 nanoseconds) would be required to refresh a 2.5 megaword×288 bit memory. This would require that one of every 4 cycles be "stolen" from read/write activity to perform refresh, i.e., the memory would only be available for data transfer 75% of the time. In the present invention the time for providing refresh is made even less significant by implementing as one of its features an automatic background refresh, as will now be described.

The preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B employs an automatic background refresh. A second refresh address is generated on wafer 150 by a simple counter 52 (see FIG. 1A). The outputs of counter 52 drive the refresh buses 48 and 49, providing a 15 bit address field similar to the 15 most significant bits on buses 46 and 47 of the read/write active address field 43. The refresh address provided by counter 52 is presented to all banks of blocks simultaneously. Decode logic AND gate 814 (see FIG. 1B) in each block receives either the true or complement of the 6 most significant address bits 824 from bus 49 (bank refresh address, see FIG. 1A) so that 1 of 40 banks (144 blocks of the total 5760 blocks) is selected for refresh. The other 9 bits 822 (see FIG. 1B) of the refresh address are enabled and decoded by row decode 801 as one of 512 (2⁹) unique addresses to select one row in each of 144 blocks of the bank selected to be refreshed. When a block is selected for refresh, read/write address 53 (all 22 bits) is disabled in all blocks of the selected bank, and the bank selected by the refresh row address from counter 52 is enabled for the refresh cycle. After all 512 row addresses are generated by the counter, one of the six most significant bits of the refresh address will change state and another bank will be selected. No more than 1 of 40 banks is selected for read/write addressing at any given time and no more than 1 of 40 banks is selected for refresh at any given time. To handle the case of the same bank being selected for both refresh and read/write addressing at the same time, the bank address (6 most significant bits) is compared by compare logic 55 to the refresh address. When identity is detected, an interrupt signal is presented to the external interface, signaling the host computer or controller to wait before performing further read/write action until the contending refresh is complete.

The refresh counter 52 counts through all of its states (at least 15 bits) at a speed controlled by C2 clock input 54 sufficient to generate all 32,768 (2¹⁵) address combinations in no more than 16 milliseconds (the refresh time required for the base technology). This counter may run asynchronously with the active address being presented at 43. Counter 52 generates a new address every 200 nanoseconds (assuming a 200 nanoseconds refresh clock cycle) and begins a new count every 16.4 milliseconds; therefore, a given bank will be addressed for refresh for a period of 0.102 milliseconds (512 rows per block×200 nanoseconds per row) every 16.4 milliseconds, or 0.6% of the time. Therefore, the memory can be active 99.4% of the time, as compared with conventional memory which could be active only 75% of the time. This contrast points out the advantage of providing the second port (address bus) for refreshing a DRAM. The numbers will differ for various device implementations or organizations. For example, if the memory is organized into 64 banks of 64K 180 bit words, then refresh would be completed in 6.5 milliseconds, again with only one bank at a time undergoing refresh. In this case, less than 0.063% of the time will an attempt be made to access data in a bank being refreshed.

Further evidence of the advantage of the background refresh methodology of this invention can be illustrated by applying it to an example structure organized as 128 banks of 90 bit words. As such, refresh of the memory would require approximately 12.8 milliseconds. If conventional "steal-a-cycle" refresh methods were to be used the memory would only be available for read and/or write about 22% of the time, but with the background refresh method of this invention, the read write operation would only be interrupted one 128th of the time, and the memory would again be available more than 99% of the time.

Power Reduction

A conventional DRAM addresses a particular memory cell by applying address voltages to the row and column of the cell addressed. Applying the address voltage to a row causes the voltages stored in all capacitors of the row to be applied to sense amplifiers and read back into the respective capacitors even though the content of only one capacitor will be read or written. When rows are selected for read/write or refresh operations, a conventional DRAM dissipates its maximum power, which is usually 50 to 100 times the power dissipated when the memory is in the standby mode and no row is being addressed. In the wafer size memory of the present embodiment, only two of every 40 memory banks will ever be in the high power mode at any one time. That is, one will be in the active mode with active addresses for read/write and another bank will be in the refresh mode. As a consequence of dividing memory into banks and having most banks unaddressed and in the standby mode, the total power dissipation is significantly reduced. The total power dissipation at any given time is the sum of the power dissipated by 38 banks being in the standby mode and 2 banks being in the activated mode. The total power dissipation for the entire 720M bit memory is less than the power dissipated by nine conventional 4 Mbit DRAMs in a conventional memory array.

Memory Block With Second Address Bus

As shown in FIG. 1B, memory block 2-95 has conventional row and column decoding functions used for addressing conventional memory cells, augmented to incorporate the novel feature of providing dual addressing, which is especially effective for refreshing a DRAM. The embodiment of FIG. 1B uses the second address bus for DRAM refresh and therefore this second address bus includes multiplexed row address lines but not column address lines, because all columns are refreshed simultaneously.

For refreshing a row in memory block 2-95, nine refresh row address lines 822 are provided, individual lines being connected to an input terminal of each one of nine 2-input AND gates 827 (shown as one AND gate but actually comprising nine parallel 2-input AND gates). Applied to the other input terminal of each of the nine gates 827 is a refresh enable signal from the output terminal of 6-input AND gate 814. The six input lines to AND gate 814 are taken from a refresh address bus comprising 12 lines carrying six true and six complement address bits. This address bus runs horizontally in third metal from center channel 101 as will be explained in connection with FIG. 2. Each bank of blocks uses a different combination of true and complement lines, and thus the blocks in different banks are enabled in response to a different address applied to the enable address bus.

Also present in each memory block, as shown in FIG. 1B, are nine read/write row address lines 823. These nine lines individually feed one input terminal of each of nine AND gates 828. The other input terminal of each of the nine AND gates 828 is fed by inverter 816. Inverter 816 provides a high enable signal to AND gates 828 only if a low output from AND gate 814 indicates AND gate 814 is not currently enabling the block for refresh. Thus inverter 816 avoids the conflict which would occur if the block were simultaneously accessed by both the refresh circuit and the device attempting to write to or read from the DRAM, while AND gate 814 and inverter 816 give priority to the refresh function. It is conceptually simpler, but not necessary, to have the same combination of six of the 12 true and complement lines connected to AND gates 814 as are connected to AND gates 815.

Multiplexer 821 includes nine 2-input OR gates 813 which provide to the row decode circuitry 801 the address from the enabled set of AND gates 827 or 828 (the disabled set providing logical zeros and not affecting the outputs of OR gates 813). Row decode circuitry 801 is a nine-to-512 decoder which turns on one of 512 (2⁹) rows in both memory groups 802 and 803 in response to the nine bit address, when enabled by a valid bank address comprised of logically-true signals from the outputs of AND gate 814 or 815 through 0R gate 818.

Line 819 from AND gate 817 enables column decoder 808 only when bank 2 (FIG. 1A), of which block 2-95 is a member, is not being refreshed, and when block 2-95 is being addressed with a valid active address for a read or write operation. When column decoder 808 is enabled, it decodes the seven-bit column address on address lines 809, turning on one column in each of memory groups 802 and 803. Write enable line 806 selects between the reading and writing function by controlling which of buffers 804, 805, 810 and 811 are turned on. For writing, buffers 804 and 810 are turned on. For reading, buffers 805 and 811 are turned on.

There are also sense amplifiers connected to each of the 128 column (bit) lines in each of memory units 802 and 803. As is well known in the DRAM art, during refresh, when each row line is being addressed, the data in all cells of that row are applied to the corresponding bit line, which is connected to the corresponding sense amplifier, then applied back to the corresponding cell, whereby the cell is refreshed. Line 819 disables column decoder 808 during refresh so that the data being refreshed are not placed on lines 807 and 812, and thereby do not conflict with data being placed on data bus lines connected to lines 807 and 812 by other memory cells being read from or written to. A single data I/O line (one of 288 of group 41 shown in FIG. 1A) is physically connected (through a single metal line or multiple metal lines joined to make a single electrical connection) to the data I/O terminal of a single memory group in each of the 40 memory banks. The two memory groups (such as groups 802 and 803 of FIG. 1B) which are connected to the two data bits can be separately tested and used or discarded. The groups are no more closely related to each other than to other memory blocks except that both groupsmust be assigned to the same memory bank and both use thesame address decode circuitry. However, in the preferredembodiment, it is preferred that the memory groups that areconnected to a common data I/O line (one group for each ofthe 40 memory banks) be physically grouped. This groupinghas the effect that the 144 memory blocks (288 groups)assigned to a given memory bank will be physically broadlydispersed over the wafer.

Dual Addressing for SRAM

The above description ofFIG. 1B refers to dual addressing for DRAM technology, forread/write and refresh operation. Alternatively, the secondaddress bus structure can be used with SRAM technologywherein the first and second address bus structures canaddress two parts of the memory simultaneously. In the caseof SRAM, for which refresh is not required, the secondaddress can be used for reading or writing to two wordssimultaneously, each being in a different memory bank andhaving common column or "page" addresses. In this case asecond write enable line such as line 806 is required and isadded and connected with line 806 using an OR gate. As withDRAM, if both address ports address the same banksimultaneously, one must be given priority and the othermust wait. If different banks are addressed, they may beaddressed simultaneously. In order to access data at twodifferent addresses on one data bus, the data may beaccessed under control of a clock twice as fast as a clockcontrolling the address functions. In this SRAM case, line819 does not disable the column decoder 808 but allows datain the two bits that are addressed to be placed on or readfrom lines 807 and 812, as controlled by timing generated bythe control logic.

The functional organization of the memory justdescribed is variable and not directly related to thephysical layout of the memory blocks on the wafer. The sixbit bank address field allows for as many as 64 banks andthe 288 data I/O lines sets the maximum number of bits perword. Other organizations (80 Mbytes or less) also allowedunder the preferred embodiment of the inventions are

64 Banks×64K×180 bits=80 Mbytes

56 Banks×64K×198 bits=77 Mbytes

48 Banks×64K×234 bits=78 Mbytes

With the simple addition of two more bits to the totaladdress field, along with an additional eight metal lines(described later), the organization flexibility can beextended to 256 banks×64K×45 Bits (16 megawords×45 bits).

Physical Organization

FIG. 2 shows the general layoutof a wafer 150, including multiple rows R1 through R50 ofmemory block pairs, extending to either side of a centerchannel 101. Wafer 150 includes a bus structure extendingvertically (in a vertical direction within the plane of thepaper) over (above the plane of the paper) center channel101, and horizontally out over the rows of blocks, fordistributing signals throughout the wafer. (In discussionof plan view figures, the words "vertical" and "vertically" will be used to refer to a direction shown as vertical onthe drawings and actually located within a layer ofhorizontally extending material). Each of the memory blockssuch as 39-0,1 are identical in their detail design as areeach of the center control channel segments such as 111.This ability to entirely compose the wafer using only twodesign characterizations, one for center channel segmentsand one for blocks, greatly simplifies the manufacturing ofthe wafer scale memory of FIG. 2 over other prior art. DRAMtechnology of the 4 Mbit generation requires the use ofreduction steppers for the photolithograph processes, sincethe feature sizes are sub-micron. For the embodiment ofFIG. 2, only two reticle sets are required for themanufacture of the base wafer.

Signals from external devices accessing wafer 150 aresent and received from center channel 101. In the case of aDRAM, center channel 101 also includes logic for controllingthe refresh function. Center channel 101 is divided intosegments, such as segment 111. Each center control channelsegment includes the following elements: a refreshcounter, address latches, groups of inverting and non-invertingline buffers, a block of miscellaneous controllogic, and several bonding pads for connection to theinterconnect structure of the wafer package, as will bediscussed in connection with FIGS. 6A, 8A and 8B. Becauseproper operation of the logic elements and conductive linesin center channel 101 is essential to operation of wafer150, the elements in center channel 101 are repeatedmultiple times along the length of center channel 101, thusproviding multiple redundant segments. With suchredundancy, bad segments can be avoided during patterning ofthe custom via layer since there is a plentiful supply ofgood redundant segments to be connected wheninterconnections are formed.

As discussed earlier, the memory cells are grouped intoblocks. As shown in FIG. 2 the blocks are arranged in rowsextending horizontally to either side of the center channel101, which extends vertically. Some of the memory blocksare illustrated in FIG. 2 near the center. Block 39-62,63and block pair 131 are labeled. Memory blocks 39-0,1through 39-74,75 on the left side of wafer 150 are alsolabeled and comprise part of bank 39.

All memory blocks in wafer 150 are identical. A blocksuch as block 39-62,63 holds 64K (65,536) bits of memory oneach of two sides for a total of 128K bits per block. Theblocks are further grouped into pairs, each pair, such aspair 131, holding 256K bits. There are 50 pairs of rows onwafer 150, typical for a 6 inch diameter wafer. As can beseen in FIG. 2, in the case of a circular wafer, not allrows have the same number of blocks. The physical size ofthe blocks, the number of blocks per row, and the number ofrows, varies depending on the dimensional limitations of thebase wafer and interconnect technologies.

The blocks are functionally grouped into memory banks,as previously described in connection with FIG. 1A, bydiscretionary connection to the overlying third metal busstructure, to be described in connection with FIG. 6A.There is no fixed physical relationship between the locationof the block on the wafer and the bank to which it isassigned. Any block can be assigned to any bank. In onepreferred embodiment, one bit of a 288 bit word is stored inone block, and 288 blocks make up a bank. In the presentlydescribed embodiment, a word is also 288 bits long and twobits of a word are stored in a block, thus there are 144 blocks in a bank. Blocks 39-0,1 through 39-74,75 form partof one bank, for example. Each block provides access to itstwo bits by being connected to two lines of a 288 line databus.

For 80M byte wafer 150, 40 banks may make up thewafer. In one organization, the equation for wafer memorycapacity is computed as follows:

Given:

64K cells per block bit line,

2 bit lines per block,

144 blocks per bank,

40 banks per wafer,

9 bits (cells) per byte.

Then, capacity is:

(64K×2×144×40)/9=80M bytes per wafer

In yet another organization, a word is 180 bits longand two bits of a word are again stored in one block,resulting in 180 bit lines used in the data bus and 90 blocks comprising a bank. In this case, 64 banks make up an80M byte wafer. For this case, the equation for wafercapacity is computed as follows:

Given:

64K cells per block bit line,

2 block bit lines per block,

90 blocks per bank,

64 banks per wafer,

9 bits (cells) per byte.

Then, capacity is again:

(64K×2×90×64)/9=80M bytes per wafer

One half of a block may be used and the other discardedif bad. Two halves of a block cannot be assigned to twodifferent banks.

Spreading of Power and Transient Currents

Accordingto another feature of the present invention, the bitsforming a word of memory (all bits of a word are in onebank) are preferably not physically located adjacent to eachother, but are distributed throughout the wafer. This isaccomplished by distributing the blocks of a bank around thewafer as shown by blocks 39-0,1 through 39-74, 75 of FIG.2. All blocks in a bank are simultaneously addressed withthe same bank address, and the same cells of these blocksare simultaneously addressed with the less significant bitsof the address. The data from blocks which are physicallyclosely grouped are placed on different bit lines of thedata bus. The distribution of memory in this fashiondistributes the power dissipation, which avoids hot spots,and distributes the transient switching currents about thewafer. By making the wafer operating temperatures morenearly constant, and by reducing thermal stresses in themetal lines, this invention thereby increases the lifeexpectancy (reliability) of the wafer.

Center Channel Bonding Pads

As shown in FIG. 3,center channel 101 receives and sends signals between wafer150 and external devices, such as 107, through a pluralityof bonding pads 102 to which are attached lines 103 leadingoff wafer 150. As shown in FIG. 6A and FIG. 8B, thesebonding pads 102 each in turn connect through conductivelines to other regions in wafer 150. In the presentlydescribed embodiment, memory wafer 150 has 400 ports forconnection to the off-wafer package. These ports are:

288 data I/O ports 41,

1 write enable port 42,

22 address ports 43,

1 refresh interrupt output port 44,

1 address clock port (C1),

1 refresh counter clock port (C2),

40 Vcc and 40 ground ports (Vcc and GND not shown).

Six pads are reserved for other potential uses.

In order to increase ruggedness to the attachmentprocess, bonding pads 102 are preferably formed from allthree of metal layers metal 1, metal 2 and metal 3.

Bringing lines from devices exterior to wafer 150, asshown in FIG. 3, to the center channel 101 of wafer 150,rather than to peripheral points on wafer 150, balances thedistance that an external signal must travel to variousparts of wafer 150 from center channel 101. It alsoreduces, on average, the maximum distance a signal from anexterior device must travel within wafer 150. Thisreduction of the on-the-wafer distance that a signal has totravel contributes to increased speed because signals travelmore slowly within wafer 150 than in lines 103 becausesilicon has a much higher dielectric constant (11.9) thandoes the material of which lines 103 are typically composed(3.2). Eliminating bonding pads at the periphery of thewafer has the additional advantage of a simplermanufacturing process, as will be discussed.

Block Structure

FIG. 4A shows a plan viewrepresentation of a block 20 of wafer 150. Block 20includes row decode logic section 22; a column decode, writeenable, and sense amplifier section 23; memory cell sections21a and 21b each having 64K cells; and test pads 24a through24r and 25a through 25r.

Memory block 20 is implemented in several layers,typically comprising a semiconductive substrate and severalconductive layers separated from each other by insulation inwhich are formed vias through which conductors of one layercontact conductors of another layer. Though manytechnologies are possible, and the number of conductivelayers used may vary, the preferred memory block uses threeconductive layers. The first conductive layer above thesubstrate is typically formed of a metal silicide orpolycrystalline silicon, the second conductive layer isformed of metal (1st metal layer), and a third conductivelayer, which includes a few jumpers between parts of theblock, is also formed of metal (2nd metal layer). Sincememory structures using three conductive layers are wellknown, further detail is not provided.

Power and Ground Grid Structure

DRAMs are noted forhaving associated high transient switching currents. As aconsequence, there is a critical requirement for capacitancebetween power (Vcc) and ground (GND) to filter or bypassswitching current induced noise. Critical also is the lowresistance and inductance of the on-wafer or on-chip Vcc andground lines as well as the low inductance of theinterconnect from the package to the wafer or chip.

This invention minimizes the effects of the heavytransient currents by a means in addition to distributingactive memory blocks over the entire wafer, as previouslydescribed, namely by providing multiple power and groundbond pads typically (40 each) uniformly distributed alongthe center control channel. According to the presentinvention, the structure includes GND and power grids havinghigh mutual capacitance integrated with the memory blocksand interconnected together with the third metal fixed busstructure to provide a stable voltage source to the memoryblocks.

Power and ground lines are formed in two conductivelayers and extend along the perimeter and center of eachblock as shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B. Power and ground linesserving one block are electrically connected to appropriatepoints within the memory block but electrically isolatedfrom the bus structure and from other blocks until aftertesting.

The preferred arrangement of Vcc and ground lines shownin FIGS. 5A through 5D reduces resistance and inductancebetween the power and ground voltage supplies and otherparts of memory wafer 150. The arrangement also maximizesthe capacitance between Vcc and ground, which is beneficialin preventing switching current voltage spikes, and thusproviding Vcc and GND voltage stability. Vcc and GND linesof unacceptable blocks are not connected to the busstructure in metal 3, thus any short circuits involving Vccand GND lines of one failed block do not affect otherblocks.

The Vcc and GND supplies for memory block 20 have beenpartly shown in FIG. 4A, with Vcc line 26 shown extendingvertically near the left and right edges of block 20 and GNDline 27 extending vertically in the middle of block 20. TheVcc and GND lines of FIG. 4A are shown as they are placed inmetal 1. The Vcc and GND supply lines 26 and 27 are shownmore clearly in FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B, and the remainder ofmemory block 20 is not shown for clarity. FIG. 5A showsmetal 1 as does FIG. 4A. It can be seen in FIG. 5A that inmetal 1 over the span of one memory block 20 the Vcc line 26forms a U-shaped conductor having vertical portions 26v anda horizontal portion 26h extending around most of threesides of the rectangle surrounding the corresponding memoryblock 20. Vcc line 26 of the memory block does not contactVcc line 26 of an adjacent memory block. Ground line 27 hasa horizontal portion 27h which extends along the fourth sideof the rectangle surrounding the corresponding memory blockand a vertical portion 27v which extends up the middle ofthe memory block. Ground line 27 does not contact the Vccline and does not contact any conductive structures in anadjacent memory block.

FIG. 5B shows the pattern of Vcc and ground in metal2. Lines shown in FIG. 5B are located directly above linesshown in FIG. 5A. It can be seen by comparing FIG. 5A andFIG. 5B that the vertical portion 28v of the ground line 28in metal 2 extends to a considerable length in closeproximity to the Vcc line 26v of metal 1. Note that thereis no horizontal portion of the metal 2 ground line. Thisinterruption avoids conflict with vertically extending databus contacts 451 through 455, also in metal 2, which areplaced to be connectable to the bit lines of metal 3. Thevertical portion 29v of Vcc line 29 extends above thevertical portion 27v of the ground line of metal 1. Metal 1and metal 2 segments of Vcc and ground are connectedtogether at the corners of the block through vias in aseparating dielectic between metal 1 and metal 2. Extension28a of metal 2 ground line 28v lies above and is connectedthrough a via to extension 27a of metal 1 ground line 27h.Extension 29a of metal 2 Vcc line 29h lies above and isconnected through a via to end 26a of metal 1 Vcc line26v.

The large extent of power and ground lines in closephysical proximity to each other provides significantcapacitance between Vcc and ground, and thus assures asteady voltage supply and reduces noise. The large area ofthese power and ground lines reduces the inductance andresistance of the Vcc and ground distribution network tofurther assure a steady voltage supply and reduce noise.

Extending upward (in a direction perpendicular to theplane of the drawing), from the first conductive layerthrough metal 1 to metal 2 between vertical metal 1 Vcclines 26v of adjacent blocks, are a plurality of test padleads, shown in FIG. 4A as leads 24a through 24r and 25a through 25r. The test pad leads of the block shown in FIG.4A interdigitate with test pad leads of adjacent blocks asshown by leads 24a-r of block 402b and leads 25a-r of block401b in FIG. 4B. In FIG. 4B four blocks are shown. Oneblock-pair consists of blocks 401a and 401b, and the otherblock-pair consists of blocks 402a and 402b. Thisinterdigitation of test pads provides for a pad pitch(center-to-center distance) that allows for testing usingconventional test probe spacing technology while using onlyhalf the usual test pad area per block.

FIG. 5C shows the layout of a portion of metal 3extending above the blocks shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B.Address bus horizontal lines 561-14a and 561-14b areindicated as are refresh bus lines 571-14a and 571-14b.Data I/O bus lines 551-14a and 551-14b are also shown. Alsoshown are metal 3 Vcc lines 581-13,14 and 581-14,15 andmetal 3 ground lines 591-14a and 591-14b. Suffixes 13, 14,15, 14a and 14b in the above reference numbers refer to therow pairs shown in FIG. 2. Row pair 14 of FIG. 2 isillustrated by way of example in FIG. 5C. The structureshown in FIGS. 5A-5C applies to all row pairs.

As shown in FIG. 5C, located in metal 3 along with theaddress and data bus structure and the power and groundlines are connector pads such as pads 471-1 through 471-5positioned above the corners of four adjacent memoryblocks. By opening vias beneath corners 471-a, 471-b, 471-cand 471-d of connector pad 471-2, this pad can be made tointerconnect ground lines of four memory blocks at corners461a, 461b, 461c, and 461d in metal 2 shown in FIG. 5B, ifupon testing, all four of memory blocks 481a, 481b, 481c,and 481d are found acceptable. As can be seen in FIG. 5C,also present in metal 3 along with the data bus lines andtwo kinds of address bus lines are large Vcc lines 581-13,14and 581-14,15 and ground lines 591-14a and 591-14b extendinghorizontally above the blocks. Numbering of these power andground lines is the same as the numbering in FIG. 6A. Thesuffixes 13, 14 and 15 refer to row pairs R13, R14 and R15in FIG. 2. For blocks found acceptable, these metal 3 powerand ground lines are connected to the respective metal 2vertically extending power and ground lines (shown inFIG. 5B) by opening vias in the discretionary via layerbetween metal 2 and metal 3. The eventual interconnectionof power and ground lines (after testing) creates twocontiguous grid structures over the memory portion of thewafer surface. FIG. 5D illustrates the composite locationsof the power (Vcc) and ground lines in metal layers 1, 2 and3, given in FIGS. 5A, FIG. 5B and FIG. 5C.

COMB-LIKE STRUCTURE OF BUSES

In the preferredembodiment of the present invention, there are three signalbuses, predominately located in the 3rd metal layer. Theseare one data bus 551, one read/write address bus 561, andone refresh bus 571. As partially shown in FIG. 6A, thesebus structures each have a comb shape. The handle portionof the comb extends vertically to one side of the row ofcontact pads 102 located in the center of center channel101. The teeth of the comb extend horizontally across theblocks of memory cells from the handle.

FIG. 6A shows a representation of the bus structures ofa preferred embodiment of the invention. For a memoryorganization using 288 bit words there will be somewhat morethan 288 lines in the data bus, additional lines beingavailable in the event some lines prove to be defective, oravailable in order to accommodate clustered defects.

Herein the case in which 300 data bus lines areprovided will be discussed. The entire 300 line data bus551 extends vertically in portions of center channel 101,each line of data bus 551 being connected to a correspondingbonding pad such as 102a, 102b, etc., in center channel 101for accessing signals off the wafer. As shown in FIG. 6A,in order to save space, these 300 data bus lines arearranged in four groups 551a, 551b, 551c, and 551d in fourquadrants of center channel 101. There are 75 lines in eachgroup, only a few in each quadrant being shown in FIG. 6A.Also, as another feature of the invention, in order to savespace, not all data bus line segments extend horizontallyabove all blocks, only those needed to access particularbits of a word stored in the row. Line segments 551-14a and551-14b extend above memory block pair row 14 and linesegments 551-13a and 551-13b extend above memory block pairrow 13. Other rows are similarly arranged.

As shown in FIG. 6A, the horizontal bus line segmentssuch as 551-13a and 551-14b preferably do not connectdirectly to corresponding segments of vertical bus 551b or551d. Indeed they preferably remain disconnected untilafter testing of the blocks and line segments, so thatunacceptable blocks and line segments can be avoided.Located in the substrate beneath center channel 101 arebuffers such as 807, 808, 809 (see FIG. 8A, also FIG. 1B) towhich horizontal and vertical segments of the data bus 551are attached after testing to form a continuous data busstructure 551. The selection of which horizontal linesegments are to be connected to which vertical line segmentscan be performed after testing.

The structure of the address buses includes a verticalportion composed of two sets of lines, 561 and 571, runningin center channel 101 and horizontal portions extendingabove all memory blocks. The two sets of vertical lines 561and 571 may each comprise both a read/write address bus anda refresh bus. Alternatively, one set of lines may comprisea read/write address bus and the other a refresh bus. Thissecond alternative is described here, bus 561 being theread/write address bus and bus 571 being the refresh bus.In the case of address buses, there is no division ofaddress lines into quadrants or segments, because alladdress bus lines extend above all blocks in the entirewafer. Buffers may be provided between horizontal andvertical sections, however. By connecting these buffersafter testing, it is possible to compensate for defects in ahorizontal segment of an address bus by not connecting a rowin which an address bus horizontal segment is defective.The provision of all address bus lines over all blocks isless cumbersome than would be the provision of all data buslines over all block pairs. For the presently describedembodiment, only 49 address bus lines (28 read/write and 21 refresh) are needed whereas 288 data lines would be needed.

The horizontal address and data bus structures areshown in schematic form in FIG. 7. In the case of data bus551, the 12 horizontal data bus line segments 551-1 through551-12 extending over a row of block pairs such as blockpair row R14, of which six block pairs are illustrated inFIG. 7, may be interconnected through buffers such as 851a through 851k to a choice of vertical lines which form thecomb-handle of data bus 551, thereby allowing thedetermination of which rows of blocks will be attached towhich data bus lines to occur after testing. In contrast tothe data bus structure, each address bus line of verticallyextending portions of read/write and refresh address buses561 and 571 is connected, either directly or through abuffer, to corresponding horizontal address bus linesextending over all blocks. As shown in FIG. 7, read/writeaddress bus 561 divides into three bus portions, also calledbuses. Six lines of 28-line bus 561 are buffered, each lineconnecting through both an inverting and a non-invertingbuffer to 12-line read/write bank address bus 47, whichdivides into segments 47-14a and 47-14b which extend aboveblocks in rows 14a and 14b respectively, some of which areshown in FIG. 7. As explained earlier, in connection withFIG. 1A and FIG. 1B, bus 47 provides the true/complementbank address to all blocks. Only one of the two true andcomplement lines representing one address bit in bus 47driven by bus 561 is connected through the discretionary vialayer to a block. Thus only six lines 47-14a1 extend frombus segment 47-14a to block 1, and if block 2 is in adifferent bank from block 1, a different combination of sixof the 12 lines extend from bus segment 47-14a to block 2.Bus 561 also drives buses 45 and 46, all lines of which areidentically connected to all blocks to provide read/writerow and column addresses.

The 15-line refresh bus 571 includes 6 lines whichdrive 12 lines of bus 49 through inverting and non-invertingbuffers, as explained above in connection with bus 47. Sixof these 12 lines are connected to each block as explainedin connection with bus 47. Refresh bus 571 includes 9 rowaddress lines buffered to 9 row address lines of bus 48,which are identically connected to every block.

If blocks 1 and 2 are assigned different bank addressesby connecting different combinations of six lines from bus47, it is acceptable to connect line D0 of blocks 1 and 2 tothe same one of data bus lines 551-1 through 551-12.However, if blocks 1 and 2 are assigned the same bankaddress, then data line D0 of block 1 must be connected to adifferent one of data bus lines 551-1 through 551-12 thandata line D0 of block 2 is connected to.

Vertical Vcc line 581b in center channel 101 (see FIG.6A, also FIG. 5C) is electrically connected throughconductive layers beneath the metal 3 layer to horizontallines 581-13,14 and 581-14,15 which extend along the upperand lower borders of memory block pair row 14 (see FIG.2). Thus, memory block pair row 14 can be visualized to belocated between Vcc lines 581-13,14 and 581-14,15. In eachblock pair row there are two rows of memory blocks. Memoryblock pair row 14 comprises an upper row 14a and a lower row14b (see FIG. 2). These two rows are served by a commondata bus including line sets 551-14a and 551-14b (FIG. 6A),each line being connectable through a buffer such as 851a through 851k (FIG. 7) located in the active substrate andthrough a connective means in the discretionary via layerbeneath metal 3 to one of lines 551d in center channel101. Ground lines 591-14a and 591-14b are connected tocenter channel ground line 581b.

Horizontally extending read/write address and refreshaddress lines are individually connected to each read/writeand refresh line of vertical read/write and refresh buses561 and 571 in center channel 101. As shown in FIG. 6A,extending above block row 14a are two sets of address buslines: 28-line read/write address bus 561-14a and 21-linerefresh address bus 571-14a. Each of the 28 read/writeaddress lines 561-14a is connected directly or indirectly toa corresponding line of center channel read/write addressbus 561, which is in turn connected to one of bonding pads102. Each of the 21 refresh address lines 571-14a isconnected directly or indirectly to a corresponding line incenter channel refresh address bus 571, which is in turnconnected (after testing) to a digit output line of acounter, such as counter 1013 (FIG. 8A), in center channel101.

Contact pads 591-14c are located at the adjacentcorners of blocks in a block pair (see also FIG. 5C) andserve to interconnect ground lines of adjacent good blocksafter testing, as will be discussed.

There may be buffers located between a verticallyextending line of the address buses 561 and 571 and eachcorresponding horizontal line extending above each row ofblocks. Alternatively, one address line buffer may serveone horizontal address line in each of several rows.

Read/Write Address Bus

The read/write address bus 561includes lines with two different functions: cell addresslines which address particular cells within a block(typically thought of as the lower order address bits), andbank address lines which address particular banks of blocks(typically thought of as the higher order address bits).All blocks which will be used in the final memory areidentically connected after testing to all cell addresslines.

Included in address bus lines 561-13b, for example,which extend above row 13b of block-pair row 13, are bothcell address lines and bank address lines. In oneembodiment shown in FIG. 1B there are 16 cell address lines(7 column and 9 row) and 12 bank address lines (6 true and 6 complement). For simplicity, these are represented in FIG.6A as two cell address lines and in connection with blockpair row 15 they are labeled "cell", and one pair of bankaddress lines is labeled "true" and "comp". The numberingof horizontal lines in the block bus portion of FIG. 6Aincludes three digits which correspond to numbering of buslines in center channel 101. Following the hyphen are twodigits plus a letter which refer to the row pair and row ofthe row pair above which the lines extend. For example,address lines 561-14a are lines extending above memory blockpair row 14 and above the upper row (row a) of the pair.

The combination of true and complement bank addresslines to which the block is connected after testing dependsupon the bank to which that block is assigned.

Refresh Bus

In the case of a DRAM, there is anadditional refresh address bus 571. This bus is driven byone of several counters, such as counter 1013 (FIG. 8A),which are provided in center channel 101. The structure ofrefresh bus 571 is similar to that of read/write address bus561, and includes 9 cell address lines and 12 bank addresslines. Refresh bus 571 is different from the read/writeaddress bus 561 in that the 9 cell address lines include rowbut not column address lines because all columns in a row ofa block are refreshed simultaneously.

Shared Data Bus Lines

As shown in FIG. 6B, the blocksare preferably arranged in pairs, one member of the pairoriented as rotated 180° around an axis perpendicular to theplane of the drawing from the other member of the pair. Bitlines extend vertically (in the plane of the drawing) in themetal 2 layer from one block across the boundary of theadjacent block of the pair but do not connectelectrically. Memory block 481c includes write enable line453c, data line 451c, and data line 452c, which extend intothe region of block 481a. Block 481a includes write enableline 453a, bit line 451a, and bit line 452a, which extendinto the region of block 481c. These lines are electricallyisolated from each other and the lines from block 481a areelectrically isolated from any part of block 481c into whichthey extend, leaving blocks 481a and 481c electricallyisolated from each other before testing. The geometry shownin FIG. 6B, in which all of vertically extending lines 451a,452c, 453a, 451c, 452a, and 453c share a horizontal bandabove which data lines of metal 3 extend, provides that anyof these lines may be connected to any of the metal 3 datalines extending horizontally above them. This pairingallows for the sharing of the data I/O and write enablebus. The block pairs are replicated in a regular matrixover the entire surface of the wafer except for a small bandof approximately 3 mm width around the circumference of thewafer. This regular matrix consequently forms repeatingrows of block pairs, the rows being of different lengths ina round silicon wafer.

Center Channel Segments

Center channel 101 isarranged in segments, of which segment 111 is labeled inFIG. 2. The segments are preferably identical. FIG. 8A andFIG. 8B show a portion of a segment of center channel 101.Segments such as shown in FIG. 8A and FIG. 8B repeatthroughout center channel 101, providing many more clocks,counters, logic functions, and buffers than needed. Thus,if some of these are found defective, the wafer can still beconnected after testing to use only good clocks, counters,logic functions and buffers. There may be five to twenty-fivecenter channel segments. Each segment provides aclock, a counter, other logic functions, buffers, andcontact pads. Only one clock and one counter are needed forrefreshing a wafer scale DRAM, thus there is multipleredundancy for these functions. However, the space forproviding an excess of these essential functions is small.A few hundred buffers may be needed and twice the number maybe provided to assure an adequate number, again at a smallcost in space. The present embodiment provides 400 bondingpads when 394 will be used. This smaller degree ofredundancy in bonding pads allows for some defects, as willbe discussed in the section on blocks that fail at burn-in,and yet minimizes the excess additional space needed for thelarge contact pads.

The 400 bonding pads of which pads 102a, 102b, 102c,and 102d are shown in FIG. 6A and FIG. 8A are preferablyvertically aligned with adjacent pads such that if the 400 exterior lines (103 of FIG. 3) to be attached to the 400 pads are held in a common medium, the 400 lines can besimultaneously brought into position against the 400 padsand attached. The bonding pads are preferably shaped withmultiple redundant portions such as 102a1, 102a2, and 102a3in FIG. 8A to have sufficient size that an external line canbe attached to one portion of the pad, then removed andanother set of external lines attached to different portionsof the pads in the event the first portions were damaged inthe process of removal.

In metal 3, as shown in FIG. 6A, address, data, powerand ground buses extend vertically across the center of thewafer approximately the full diameter of the wafer (stoppinga few millimeters before reaching the perimeter, thusavoiding an area where defects are common and might causefailure of the wafer). Though it is not necessary thatsegments of center channel 101 (such as segment 111 shown inFIG. 2) be of a height which is a multiple of the height ofa row pair such as row pair 131 of FIG. 2, it is preferableto maintain this synchronous arrangement. Then when themanufacturing process uses a stepper (a photolithographictool), the same step distance used to form the memoryblocks, can also be used to form the center channel. Thisrequires changing only the reticle, and possibly shutteringthe image size, and does not require also having to changethe stepping distance.

In the substrate, in the silicide or polycrystallinesilicon layer, and in metal 1, as illustrated in FIG. 8A,each segment of center channel 101 includes control logicdevices 1012, logic devices 1014, counters 1013, and clocks1015 for controlling the DRAM refresh function. Centerchannel 101 also includes multiple buffers 1005 and 1011which can be interconnected, after being tested and foundacceptable, between the data bus lines running vertically inthe center channel 101 and the data bus fingers extendinghorizontally above the memory blocks. Buffers 1005 and1011, located near the perimeter of center channel 101, areusable to connect the vertical portions of the data bus 551,shown in FIG. 6A as quadrants 551a, 551b, 551c, and 551d tothe horizontal portions of the data bus such as 551-13 and551-14. Since buffers 1005 and 1011 are not connected untilafter testing, it is possible to select which bits of a wordwill be stored in which rows of blocks by controlling whichof the complete set of lines in the vertical data bus willbe connected to particular horizontal data bus lines andthence to individual blocks.Lines1016 and 1017 are extended linesfor connecting address and databuffers to the bus running overthem, using vias appropriatelyplaced.

As shown in FIG. 8B, in metal 2, horizontal linesextend both left and right from each of the bonding pads,pads 102a1 through 102a3 being shown in FIG. 8B. Betweenthe bonding pads additional lines extend horizontally, somebeing connected to an input or output lead of a buffer.These horizontal conductive lines in the center channelportion of metal 2 can be selectively connected to desiredvertical lines of metal 3, thereby determining theinterconnection of portions of the center channel to the buslines after testing. Since about 80 of the 400 pads in thisembodiment of the invention are used for power and groundlines, it is possible to establish which of the pads will beused for power and ground after manufacture of the device(but before interconnection). However, if the technologybeing used will require considerable current in the powerand ground lines, it may be preferable to designate which ofthe bonding pads will serve for power and ground, and formextra wide lines extending horizontally from these bondingpads so that these lines extending from the power and groundpads can carry sufficient current without early failure.

Distributed Memory Avoidance Of Hot Spots

In apreferred embodiment, the memory is organized so that thebits of a word are distributed about the wafer. All bits ofa word are stored in the same memory bank, but each bit orfew bits of a word are stored-in a different block ofmemory. Within a bank, one block stores only bit 0 and bit1 of 64K different words. Another block stores only bit 2and bit 3 of the same 64K words. Yet another block storesbit 4 and bit 5, and so on, 144 blocks within the bank thusstoring all bits of 64K words, each word having 288 bits.The blocks of a bank are preferably not adjacent, butdistributed about the wafer, as shown by the location ofblocks 141-0,1 through 141-74,75 in FIG. 2, in order togreatly reduce the effects of hot spots on the substrate.The remaining bits of a word are similarly distributed inblocks of the same bank located throughout the remainingmemory. A hot spot can occur if the same region of memoryis repeatedly addressed. Since some computer programs willrepeatedly address certain regions of memory, with thepresent invention the heat generated by addressing thissection of memory can be spread over the wafer by physicallyseparating the digits of the same word. Even though heat isgenerated by those addressed blocks more than by adjacentaddressed blocks, the very small amount of heat generated byaddressing a block will be dissipated by adjacent blocks aswell as by the structure to which the wafer is mounted, thusmaintaining the addressed cell in a cooler state than ifadjacent blocks had also been addressed, and maintaining aseries of smaller temperature gradients over the wafer as awhole rather than one very large gradient.

Reduced Number Of Data Bus Fingers

A further benefitof this distributed memory organization is achieved bygrouping all blocks which store bit 0 and bit 1 in the samerow, or a few rows; all blocks which store bit 2 and bit 3in the same row or few rows; etc. In one 80 megabyte RAMwafer, as shown in FIG. 2, the longest row of block pairsincludes about 160 block pairs, 80 block pairs in a row oneither side of center channel 101. The blocks holding aparticular bit position are arranged adjacently; forexample, block pairs holding bit 0, bit 1, bit 2 and bit 3start in the upper left corner and occupy the left side ofrows 1 and 2; block pairs holding bit 4, bit 5, bit 6 andbit 7 being assigned to the remainder of the left side ofrow 2 and part of row 3; and so on. Any blocks founddefective upon testing would be skipped in the assignment.This way, even the longest row pair, row 13 for example,will hold data for only about 8 significant digits of the288 bit words. Therefore only 12 (8 data lines plus a fewspares) rather than 288 lines, will need to extend acrosseven the longest row pair to connect the cells in blocks ofthat row pair to corresponding data lines in the 288 linedata bus running in center channel 101, and provideredundant data lines for flexibility in the case a line isdefective. In order to provide redundant lines in case ofdefective lines, one embodiment provides 12 lines above arow pair in a long row and 8 lines above the short row pairsat the top and bottom of the wafer.

Mask Formation Using Two Reticles Per Layer

As wasstated earlier, eliminating bonding pads at the periphery ofthe wafer has the additional advantage of a more simplemanufacturing process. In a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention it is possible to generate aphotolithographic mask for the entire wafer using only twostepper reticles for each layer of the structure one forforming memory blocks and one for forming center channelsegments. This use of only two reticles per layer comparesfavorably with a wafer in which contact pads are locatedalong the perimeter of the wafer. One such prior art waferrequired 17 reticles per layer in order to achieve acontrolled relationship between the memory cells and thecontact pads.

According to the above described embodiment of thepresent invention in which two memory blocks of a pair canbe connected to any of a plurality of data bus leads locatedabove or near the line joining the two blocks in the pair,one reticle per layer can be formed to generate the patternof all memory blocks and the other reticle can be formed togenerate the pattern of all segments of the centerchannel. As shown in FIG. 6B, a memory block, for examplememory block 481c, includes leads (for example, leads 451c,452c, and 453c) extending beyond the rectangular outline ofmemory block 481c and into the rectangular outline of memoryblock 481a. Memory block 481a can be formed from the sameset of reticles as memory block 481c by rotating thereticles 180° on the vertical axis. Leads 451a, 452a and453a of memory block 481a then extend into the rectangularoutline of memory block 481c. When making the detaileddesign of the memory block, it is of course necessary toassure that the leads which extend beyond the boundary donot make contact with leads of the adjacent, but rotated,memory block. A reticle is formed to generate a block pairso that these leads do not extend beyond a reticleboundary. The leads 451a through 453c extending a shortvertical distance to either side of the boundary between ablock pair are located in metal 2 and are available toconnect to any of the data bus lines which extendhorizontally above these vertical leads. The third metalbusing structure is made from a single mask, of full wafersize, which is applied to the wafer all at one time and isnot stepped.

Testing and Redundancy

As discussed earlier, a memoryon the order of 80 megabytes must have some means forproviding redundancy in order for the manufacturing processto yield a significant quantity of acceptable devices. Thememory of the present invention is organized into blocks forwhich no redundancy is provided. Redundancy is provided bymanufacturing more blocks, more lines, and more overheadcircuitry than will be needed in the finished memory, thentesting the blocks, lines, and overhead circuitry beforeinterconnecting these separate units to form a singleintegrated circuit memory.

The testing is performed under computer control, usingan algorithm which tests every cell in a block and indicatesa failure if any cell fails to meet the requirements of theseveral test vectors which have been used. The computerkeeps a list of locations of blocks which have passed thetest. Center channel buffers, logic units, clocks andcounters are also tested.

It is possible to perform this testing before the thirdmetal layer and the insulation between second and thirdmetal are formed. If this is to be done, as shown in FIG.9A, test pads such as ER1-ER6, AR1-AR6, E1-E15, and A1-A15are provided in metal 2 for testing each of the circuitelements and other devices in a block. Bus lines of buses 45, 46, 47, 48 and 49 locatedin metal 3 are shown as dotted lines in FIG. 9A. Bus linessuch as line 70 will be connected through vias such as via71 to the same metal line as was used to lead from a testpad such as test pad A14 to points in the block, if theblock was found acceptable.

As another benefit of the present invention, only asmall number or test pads per block, 42 in the embodiment ofFIG. 9A, are needed to test all 128K circuit elements in ablock. Lines from these test pads are connected in a wellknown manner to points within the corresponding block forapplying test voltages and reading generated voltages.These 42 test pads allow generation of the row and columnaddress of every circuit element in the block, the refreshaddress of every row, and measure whether proper voltagesare received from every circuit element in the block. Inthe DRAM memory embodiment discussed here, both blocks in amemory block pair can be tested by simply using aconventional probe card having 84 test probes. As a furtheradvantage, with the interdigitated test pads of adjacentmemory blocks, best seen in FIG. 4B, the center-to-centerpad pitch is sufficiently large to be able to useconventional test probes, while the area per block requiredfor test pads is only half what would be required if testpads were not interdigitated.

Possible Manufacturing Variations

The base wafer asmanufactured up through the second layer of metal (prior totest) as described in the above embodiment uses four MbitDRAM manufacturing technology which has sub-micron featuresand very small metal pitches on the order of three to fourmicrons on the second layer of metal. The third layer ofmetal in which the bus structure is formed, has relativelyloose design tolerances with approximately a 20 micronpitch.

In the manufacture-before-test embodiment, the buslines in the third layer of metal are physically arranged asshown by 49 dotted lines in FIG. 9B. Because of the largespace between bus lines, test pads can be located in metal 3between these bus lines. For example, test pad E14 of FIG.9B is located in metal 3 between bus line 70 and bus line72. A via not shown is beneath metal 3 test pad E14,allowing metal 3 test pad E14 to contact metal 2 line 73.If the block is found acceptable upon testing, via 71 isopened, allowing bus line 70 to contact metal 2 line 73,which is connected to points within the block. Viasconnecting other test pads and bus lines are similarlyprovided and opened if the block is found acceptable. Viaopenings and connections can be made by laser drilling orprogramming of antifuses at the via locations.Alternatively, vias may be opened by laser or E-beamwelding, which causes melting of the insulation layersbetween metal 2 and metal 3 so that a permanent connectionis formed between the two layers at this location. Testingat metal 2 avoids the need for antifuses or E-beam weldingbut requires the manufacturing process be interrupted fortesting. Testing after metal 3 is formed and patternedavoids the interruption for testing but requires a morecomplex process for discretionary via formation. Antifusesare not desirable in DRAM structures due to their associatedresistance.

Method Of Testing

Each block in the wafer is testedto determine that every cell in that block functionsproperly and that the logic in that block properlyaddresses, reads, and writes to every cell. A 64K bit blockin which each bit is tested using a small number of testpads, functions as follows.

Since 64K is 2¹⁶, 16 test pads are needed for applyingthe 16 address bits to the 2nd metal address lines of theblock. In an embodiment in which each bit can be separatelyaddressed, one data line per block receives output from asingle cell at a time, requiring a 17th test pad. Inanother embodiment in which two bits of a word accessed by asingle address are stored in the block, two data lines areprovided for reading and writing data to bits in thatblock. Other organizations can of course be provided inwhich different numbers of bits are accessed by a singleaddress, and the corresponding number of data lines providedfor each commonly addressed bit in the block.

Herein is discussed the embodiment in which two datalines per block are commonly addressed, the second data linebeing accessed through an 18th test pad. A write enablebuffer is controlled from a 19th test pad. If there are 40 to 64 banks of blocks, then it will take 6 more test pads toenable the block and to determine that the block is properlyenabled. These six bank-enable test pads lead to a sixinput AND gate in the block (in one embodiment it is wellknown that NAND, NOR, and OR gates can alternatively performthis function), raising the test pad count to 25.

According to a DRAM embodiment in which a separateaddressing port is available for refreshing the DRAM, 6 morebank address lines, and 9 more row address lines requireanother 15 test pads. In the preferred embodiment allcolumns are refreshed simultaneously, so no column refreshlines are provided and none need to be tested. Twoadditional power pads are required to supply Vcc and GND tothe block being tested.

Forming connection Between The Address And Data BusesIn Metal 3 And The Blocks Below

According to the presentinvention, the entire response to the results of testing fordefects as well as flexibility in organizing the memory onthe wafer can be accomplished by forming vias in theinsulation via level beneath the metal bus structure. Asdiscussed above, this via level may be formed either beforeor after testing. If testing is performed before the vialevel is formed, the insulation of the via level is formed,and then vias are opened in a pattern responsive totesting. Above each block are potential via openingsites. For example, as shown in FIG. 9A, a row ofvertically aligned opening sites (85 through 96) is locatedabove data lines 551 of FIG. 9A where each of thehorizontally extending data bus segments will pass over dataline 452. If the block is found acceptable upontesting, an opening will be made in one of these openingsites so that when the final metal layer is laid down, itwill extend into the opening and contact one of the data lines 551. Whenthe final metal is patterned and the data bus horizontalportions are formed, the via will electrically connect a dataline to the block.

A bi-directional data line buffer will also have beenconnected to the horizontal data bus line at one of itsports and to one of 288 vertical data bus lines at the otherof its ports, this vertical data bus line also having beenconnected through another via somewhere along its length toa horizontal line in the second metal layer in the centerchannel to a particular enter channel pad which sends andreceives data for that bit of a word.

As shown in FIG. 9A, there are vertically extendingaddress lines in metal 2 extending from the row and columndecode test pads of the block for a length sufficient toextend under a corresponding metal 3 bus line that will passhorizontally over the block. This is represented in FIG. 9Aby lines 70 and 71. Each of the cell address lines in agood block may be connected to its corresponding celladdress line in the address bus of metal 3. For every goodblock, each of the bank address lines in metal 2 isconnected to a true or complement but not both of the trueand complement bank address lines of metal 3, therebydetermining the bank address of that block. The blocks ineach bank are connected to a different combination of trueand complement lines to assign a unique address to thebank. The word position of the data bits in one block isdetermined by which lines in the data bus they areconnected to.

The selection of the memory organization is thuscontrolled by the set of openings formed in this single lastvia layer which connects the good blocks to appropriatecombinations of bank address and data lines at theintersections of the metal 2 and metal 3 correspondinglines.

The flexibility in organization of the memory (wordlength, number of banks) is achieved by providing enoughdata lines in the data bus to handle the maximum desiredword length, and enough bank address lines to be able toaddress the maximum desired number of banks. In theexamples discussed above, 6 bank address lines (and 6 complements) are provided so that up to 64 banks may beprovided, and 288 data bus lines are provided so that a word288 bits long may be read or written in response to anaddress. It is possible to greatly increase the flexibilityfor determining the organization after testing simply byadding more data lines to the data bus or adding more bankaddress lines to the address bus.

Bus Line Structure With Redundant Contact Points

FIG.10A and FIG. 10B show an enlarged image of three singlelines in the third metal horizontal bus structure. Thissame image preferably applies to lines in all three of thedata, address, and refresh buses. This structure providesredundancy for correcting defects in the bus structure whichmay occur or be detected after the testing of blocks andlogic, and after the bus structure has been interconnectedto the blocks and logic.

The line width of the bus line is sufficient that twodifferent contact points to vertically extending lines inmetal 2 are available and located side-by-side. FIG. 10Ashows a section of the structure in metal 2 and metal 3above one of the memory blocks. Lines 702, of which threeare shown, extend horizontally in metal 3 and are separatedfrom vertically extending lines 701 in metal 2 by theinsulation layer in which vias will be, or have been,formed. Each of lines 702 is wide enough to allow twopoints of contact to each of the lines 701, for example atlocations 706a and 706b. Between each pair of potentialpoints of contact, each line 702 may be broken duringpatterning to leave spaces, such as 703, thereby dividingeach of lines 702 into an upper portion 702a and a lowerportion 702b. These upper and lower portions of each line702 remain interconnected at interconnection regions such as705a and 705b.

FIG. 10B illustrates the repair possibilities availablewith the redundant metal bus structure of FIG. 10A. Lines721 through 733 represent laser cuts which have been made inbus lines 702 to sever adjacent portions of the bus lines,thus isolating faults, while maintaining a continuous metalsignal line. If a defect, for example an opening 707 (seeFIG. 10A) occurs in one of lines 702 such that line 702segment 702b could not be connected to line 701a, a secondinterconnection site is available. If defect 707 is a shortbetween point 702b and line 701a, and interconnection atthis point is not desired, the bus structure can be repairedby isolating the defect, as shown in FIG. 10B. As anexample, assume that via location 734 (FIG. 10B) has anundesired short to the underlying metal 2 line. This shortcan be eliminated by cutting metal 3 bus line 736a atlocations 721 and 722, which isolates via location 734 whilemaintaining a continuous metal signal line along metal 3 bussection 736b through metal bridges 727, 728, and others. Insimilar fashion, an unwanted defect in metal 3 (for example,a short to metal 1) can be isolated by cutting at points729, 730, and 731. Making cuts at both locations 724 and726 will separate bus line 736 into two isolated sections.It is possible, of course to use laser cutting to separateshorts in metal 2 between adjacent lines after testing ofblocks. This method works best with the embodiment in whichtesting is performed before the application of thepersonalized via layer.

Flexibility: Random And Clustered Defects EasilyAccommodated in Embodiment Using Few Data Lines AboveRows

According to the present invention, any arrangementof defects, and consequently bad memory blocks, can beavoided by properly connecting the bus structure to goodblocks only. Since address and data buses extend above allblocks in the wafer, all blocks are located so that they canbe readily connected to both bus structures. However, it isnot necessary that all lines of the data bus extend over allblocks of the wafer. The main data bus, having 288 lines inthe present embodiment, extends vertically in the centerchannel. For every word in the memory, each bit must beconnected to a corresponding bit line in the data bus. Byarranging blocks of a bank such that blocks in which bits ofmany different banks are placed in a single row, for examplebits 0 through 7, it is only necessary to run 8 data linesover that row. Running 12 data lines over a row allows fora block in that row to store any of 12 different bits of aword. The preferred embodiment incorporates buffers betweenthe vertically extending main portion of the data bus andthe horizontally extending data lines which run above thememory blocks. The buffers are not connected until aftertesting. They are connected such that the horizontal bitlines for reading/writing bit 0 extend over a sufficientnumber of acceptable blocks necessary to store bit 0 of eachword in the memory.. Likewise with all bits of a word.

If testing indicates that a large portion of one row isdefective, no particular bit of a word is affected since theblocks for particular significant bits of sequential banksare simply sequentially assigned to good blocks, skippingdefective blocks. Horizontal data bus lines extending abovethe row of block pairs are then assigned and connectedthrough buffers to the corresponding line of the data bus,thereby interconnecting the data terminals of blocks whichwill store bits accessed by that vertical data bus line.For example, in an 80 megabyte RAM (720 megabit RAM) having40 banks, there will be 40 blocks in which bit zero mustbe accessed. Likewise there will be 40 blocks in which theNth bit will be stored into one or a few rows. This meansthat only a few horizontal extensions of the 288 linevertical data bus are needed to access all of the Nth bits.

Redundancy is such that wafers having any number ofgood memory blocks can be used. Those wafers having asmaller number of good blocks are simply interconnected toaddress a smaller amount of memory. Any good memory blockcan be connected as a member of any bank and for any bitposition in that bank. This provides complete flexibilityfor the avoidance of defects.

Method of Compensating For Blocks That Fail AtBurn-In

After all metallization interconnect has beencompleted there must exist the ability to compensate for anyloss in functioning blocks that may occur during final burn-in.Burn-in is an accelerated stress test performed atelevated temperatures while the device is electricallyexercised. Burn-in is typically but not necessarilyperformed before shipment to customers. As shown inFIG. 11, one embodiment of the present invention compensatesfor burn-in failure by providing a set of redundantblocks 1120, on the order of 10 percent of the minimum totalblock count.Forexample, defective blocks 1101and 1102 can be replaced byredundant blocks 1121 and1122.An additional 10 percent is added to eachbank, for example 14 blocks per bank in the example using144 blocks per bank, to make the total number of blocks perbank equal to 158. (10 percent is a worse-case, 1 to 2 percent being more probable based on common failure ratesreported in the literature). The redundant blocks 1120 aregrouped in a manner similar to the primary blocks, andthe addresses to the banks and blocks remains as previouslydescribed. Input and output from the redundant blocks 1120are fed to an additional 28 I/O pads in center channel 101,such as pads 102-102d (FIG. 8A). Signals to and from theadditional I/O pads are routed off the wafer through anadditional 28 lines in exterior interconnect 103 (seeFIG. 3). All I/O lines are then routed to an area externalto the wafer where selective connection or disconnection canbe accommodated using wire bonds or soldered wire jumpers.If any part of the circuitry contacted by an I/O lineleading to one of the primary blocks shows faulty performance, dueeither to being connected to one or more faulty blocks,or due to faults within the lines and vias themselves, theI/O) line may be left unused. As long as the number oflines leading to circuitry having defects is no more than28, there are sufficient lines to good blocks to meet thespecified memory capacity. Such connection/disconnection ofdefective lines can also be accomplished using integratedcircuits, as is well known. Instead of being connected toone of the center channel pads, the extra 28 I/O lines canbe brought to a separate, small auxiliary connector locatedinboard to the edge of the package which is used only forresponding to the final burn-in test.

Use Not Limited to Memory Array

Even though thepreferred embodiment discussed above is a large memory, theinvention is not limited to memory circuitry. The inventionalso applies to logic devices where there are multiplerepeating identical blocks that can be enabled by a binaryaddressing scheme. One such device is an array processorwhich may contain a complex matrix of identical smallmicroprocessors.

Other embodiments of the invention will become obviousto those skilled in the art in light of the abovedescription of the invention. Such other embodiments areintended to fall within the scope of the present invention. 

We claim:
 1. An integrated circuit device formed on a semiconductor wafer comprising:a center channel extending approximately across a diameter of said wafer; a multiplicity of addressable elements arranged in rows extending approximately perpendicular to said center channel on either side of said center channel; a plurality of horizontal bus lines extending above said multiplicity of addressable elements and providing address for data signals to said addressable elements; said center channel comprising: bonding pads for sending and receiving signals between said addressable elements and circuitry not part of said wafer; means for connecting said bonding pads to said plurality of horizontal bus lines.
 2. An integrated circuit device as in claim 1 in which said center channel further comprises:a plurality of logic devices for generating signals to be sent to said addressable elements; and means for connecting said logic devices to said plurality of horizontal bus lines.
 3. An integrated circuit device as in claim 2 in which said plurality of logic devices includes at least two logic devices identical to each other such that any one of said logic devices identical to each other may be used to provide the logic function provided by said logic devices identical to each other.
 4. A device as in claim 1 in which said means for connecting said bonding pads to said plurality of horizontal bus lines comprises vertical bus lines and buffers.
 5. A device as in claim 1 in which said bonding pads comprise multiple sites for attaching lines for connecting to said circuitry not part of said wafer. 